Many of the most beautiful and important landscapes in Sussex will be at risk of pollution and damage under new Government rules, it has been claimed.

A total of 142 of the county's sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) - including swathes of the South Downs - have been excluded from a list of locations to be given special protection from waste dumping and the discharge of pollutants into water.

Now 47 MPs have signed a Parliamentary motion demanding a rethink before a final list is approved in just two weeks' time.

The row centres on the European Union's environmental liability directive, which is intended to hold companies liable for polluting the environment.

The Government has been accused of trying to save money by imposing only the minimum standards required by the EU - thereby ignoring 3,000 SSSIs across England.

Those sites left off the list include 142 in Sussex, according to the environmental campaign group GeneWatch.

They include 22 SSSIs in the Parliamentary constituency of Chichester, 22 in Lewes, 20 in Arundel and South Downs, 18 in Wealden, 17 in Horsham and 16 in Bexhill and Battle.

In Arundel, overlooked sites include Chanctonbury Hill, Cissbury Ring and the Clayton to Offham Escarpment on the South Downs - downland and grassland which is home to orchids and rare butterflies.

In Bexhill and Battle, they include bluebell-friendly High Woods and Maplehurst Wood, while in Chichester the heathland of Iping Common, popular with the rare Silver-Studded Blue butterfly, has been omitted.

Other SSSIs at risk, according to campaigners, include the Brighton to Newhaven cliffs, regarded as an important geological site, Buchan Hill Ponds in Crawley, Combe Haven wetland valley in Hastings and St Leonard's Forest in Horsham.

Pevensey Levels in Wealden, one of the most important wetlands in Britain for animals and plants, and Lewes Brooks, a valley running south of the town which is popular with wintering birds, have also been left off the list.

The Sussex Wildlife Trust yesterdayFEB2 called on the Government to think again and give extra protection to every SSSI in the county.

Chief Executive Tony Whitbread said: "We believe that the principle of 'polluter pays' should apply to all of our most important wildlife sites."

Norman Baker, Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes, said: "It is absurd that a law that claims to protect the environment would exclude some of Britain's most important wildlife species and scientific sites.

"The EU issued this Directive with the intention of making the polluter pay.

But the UK government seems intent on neutering the law and doing as little as possible to bring polluters to account."

However, the department for the environment, food and rural affairs (Defra) said its policy was minimum implementation of EU directives, unless there were exceptional circumstances.

It is estimated the enforcement of minimum standards will lead to an average of 42 actions being taken against environmental damage each year, with the total cost of enforcement about £14 million.

Enforcing above minimum standards could see an extra 38 incidents, leading to additional costs of £2.4 million, said a Defra spokesman.

Gregory Barker, Conservative MP for Bexhill and Battle, said: "In Sussex we have some of the most precious landscape in the country and anything that waters down protection for SSSIs is of particular concern to us.

"I am worried this all goes back to the Government's determination to build indiscriminately over the South East at the expense of the environment."